Loren's story
by Animorph128
Summary: The Andalite chronicles, told from Loren's POV. Rated T for safty, due to violence in later chapters
1. Prologue

**Since English is not my mother tongue, there might be grammar or spelling mistakes. Sorry for that.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs.**

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**Loren's Story – Prologue**

"Loren!", my mom called me from the kitchen. We had just finished lunch and I was heading out to spend the Saturday afternoon in the woods.

"Yeah?" I stopped and went back to her.

"Be careful and come back for dinner", she told me.

I nodded and left the house. Fortunately the woods were just about five minutes away from our house.

Once I got there I walked straight to my favourite place. It was a large clearing – about 300 feet in one direction and 200 feet in the other – and there was a stream flowing right through it. I could lie there for hours just watching the sky and dreaming.

And that was exactly what I'd planned for today. But after some time I noticed something strange:

There was something up in the sky, not a bird or a plane, something different, something new – and it was moving towards me!

I watched it and when it came closer I could make out that it was – well, at least it looked like – a flying saucer. I mean it looked really just like one of these. It was round, flat and there were lights flashing all around it.

And then it landed right in front of me. Right in the middle of the clearing! I just stood there and stared. This was crazy! A spaceship? Landing in the middle of some random clearing? I had to be dreaming.

Suddenly a door opened and out came a grey creature about 4 feet tall. Its arms were pretty long, as if it could use them to walk , too, but right now it stood on two legs, pretty much like a human. It had huge eyes, which it now focused on me. Oh, and he was holding some kind of weapon.

After looking at me for a moment, it said something, but I didn't understand anything, so I just shook my head and tried to explain: "Sorry, I can't understand you."

But this alien just aimed his weapon straight at me. I saw a red light and then...

everything went black.

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**Alright, I know this is short, but the other chapters should be longer.**

**Please tell me if you liked this so far, or if I should stop writing it. **


	2. Waking up in a storage room

**Alright, here is the first chapter of Loren's story. I hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs.  
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**Chapter 1 – Waking up in a storage room**

I woke up. Confused I looked around. This wasn't my room. And certainly not the clearing.

The clearing! Of course! Seemingly I hadn't just imagined the alien. It probably took me into the spaceship.

_Not that it looks like a spaceship_, I thought. _More like an old storage room._

Honestly, that's exactly what it looked like. On my left side was a TV with a lot of magazines on top of it. Next to this were some chairs with two bikes leaning against them. It was crazy! The whole room was filled with almost everything that could be found on earth. There even was a car!

And on the ceiling dangled little twinkling lights, almost like Christmas decoration, in every color I could think of!

Well, and on my right side lay a boy. He was taller than me, maybe five or six centimetres, even through that was hard to tell while he was lying on the ground. His hair was brown and he seemed to be a bit older than me, but only by a few months.

He was still unconscious, so I figured he had probably been kidnapped after me.

_Kidnapped by aliens! No one is going to believe me when I get home. Well, if I even get home._

I didn't know what these aliens wanted to do with me, or the boy for that matter.

Speaking of him, he just began to wake up.

"Hey, are you OK?", I asked him.

"I think so", he answered. "You know where we are?"

"Well, the last thing I remember is this alien shooting at me, so I suppose we're in a spaceship. Seemingly the storage area."

Saying it out loud made it sound even more absurd.

"Oh man, I thought I only dreamed that up", the boy moaned.

At this moment a door opened. Well, to be exact, a part of the wall just disappeared and created a round opening. I guess, that's what you call a "door" in a spaceship.

An alien entered the room. This one looked completely different from the one I had seen in the clearing. In fact he looked like a huge cockroach with fourteen legs and six sets of antennae. And it was huge! It was even my size, which is pretty big for a cockroach.

"Hey, you stupid freak!"

The boy jumped up and ran yelling toward the alien. I hurried after him, even through I wasn't sure why. It looked like he was about to beat this alien up and I _was_ angry at these aliens.

I mean, this one definitely wasn't the one who shot me, but still … it probably worked together with the other ones. But I didn't know for sure and beating this alien up wasn't going to help me finding answers. So I didn't know if I was going to try to stop this boy or help him.

Before I could decide on either of these possibilities, he reached the alien and tried to punch it in the face. The alien managed to to dodge the blow, but only barely.

The boy got it far worse: The alien whirled around and hit him with one of his legs. The boy fell to the ground. He was out cold and on this forehead a gap opened.

The moment I saw the blood, I totally lost it. All I could think of were the facts that I had been kidnapped and that this alien had just beat a boy unconscious.

I ran up to it and grabbed a baseball bat on my way – like I said: There was almost everything to be found in this room.

As soon as I reached the alien, I swung the baseball bat around and – Yeah! I hit the alien straight in the head! Now it fell to the ground, too.

Slowly my mind caught up with my actions. _Alright, and what now?, _I wondered.

I probably hadn't killed the alien. I once read that cockroaches are hard to kill and after all this guy looked pretty much like one, even with the additional limbs.

And the boy? Well, he was still lying on the floor. His wound looked pretty bad. I knelt down next to him and tried to find his pulse.

But at the exact moment when I touched his wrist, his eyes flew open. _Okay, at least he's still alive, _I told myself.

"Please don't kill me. Please – don't", he whispered.

Oh, no! This couldn't be happening! Now he probably thought I was one of the aliens! I didn't know what to do.

In this condition he wouldn't even let me look after his wound – not that I knew how to treat such a cut, anyway.

So … I looked at the door. It was still open, but I didn't trust it to remain that way for a long time.

I shot one last glance at the boy, who was still begging for mercy, then I got up and left the room.

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**So, what do you think? Please review!**


	3. Great, more aliens

**So I finally finished the second chapter. I hope you like it. **

**This chapter is dedicated to my brother Max, since it's his birthday today.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs.**

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Loren's story – chapter 2: Great, more aliens

I hurried down a narrow hallway, which was still lit by the blinking I passed a huge cocoon. What was that supposed to be? Were they raising giant butterflies?

Slowly a plan stared to form in my mind: I would look for the bridge or for whoever flew this ship. Then I would somehow convince them to fly back to earth and let the boy and me go – preferably near a hospital, for the boy's sake.

I knew this plan still wasn't perfect – there were still many problems left, like: How could I tell them what I wanted since they obviously didn't speak English? And why should they even want to help me?

But I didn't worry about that right now – I'd figure something out when I reached the bridge.

Whenever I saw an open door I looked inside. I thought that way I'd find the bridge sometime.

After about half an hour, I'd found a few smaller storage rooms, some filled with stuff from earth, others with things I didn't recognize – I guessed these were from other planets. Twice I came across rooms which I thought were private quarters.

A while after I had passed the last of these I noticed that boxes started to show up along the hallway. Even through I didn't know what that meant I decided to take it as a good sign – at least it was a little change.

A few minutes later I notice another door straight ahead. But this time I was sure I had finally reached the bridge: Huge windows showed the stars outside, different screens hung on the walls and technical looking devices stood below them all.

As far as I was able to see, five aliens were in the room, two of the cockroaches and three like the one one in the clearing. So my first guess had been right and they really worked together.

Since none of the aliens was looking in my direction I managed to sneak quietly onto the bridge.

Once I was there I quickly hid behind another one of the boxes. Now all I had to do was to find a way to convince them to fly back to earth.

_Alright, Loren_, I told myself. _First step: What do you know? _

That was close to nothing: I had been kidnapped by two alien races. They worked together, even through the cockroaches appeared to work for the others, judging from the way they were ignored and what they did: one was cleaning up for example. The other three all seemed to be in higher positions, but there was only one among them who carried a weapon, so I guessed that this one was the captain. The weapon itself looked pretty much like the one I had been shot with in the clearing. If I could only get hold of it somehow. That would probably make them listen.

I needed a distraction. There had to be a way …

Suddenly the whole ship shook. The aliens seemed to be taken aback by this. In an instant I jumped up. A second later I had crossed the room and I was holding the gun-thing, before the aliens even realized that I was there.

The captain froze when he noticed me pointing the weapon at him. He looked scared, but I wasn't sure – it was hard to tell emotions on an alien face. The other two like him also looked shocked and didn't move.

The only ones who didn't react to me in any way were the two cockroaches, who just kept working as if nothing had happened.

Could they really be that stupid that they didn't notice a girl attacking the bridge?

_Well, that's not my business, anyway, _I decided.

I looked the captain straight in the eyes and ignored the developing smoke – there definitely was some damage, maybe even in the engines. But I wouldn't change my plan.

"So Mr. Captain, you turn this ship around right now and get the boy and me back to earth or I'll shoot!"

I tried to sound as brave and determined as I could, but the alien just looked confused. Oh, right – they probably didn't speak English, like the one in the clearing.

Before I was able to think about an alternative plan, the alien suddenly focused on something behind and beside me. Great, what has happened now?

I turned around and saw – guess what? Two different aliens.

Just how many alien races were out there? I had been in space for not even half a day and here was the third one I encountered.

These two looked a lot like centaurs, except that they hadn't got mouths and seven fingers on each hand. Instead of a nose they had three vertical slits. But their eyes were more shocking: Two of them were right where you would expect therm and had a bright green color. The other two were stalk eyes on the top of their heads.

However, the worst thing was the tail. Each of them had a tail like a scorpion with a big, dangerous-looking blade on the end. Oh, and another thing: These aliens were blue.

The one who was slightly in front stepped forward.

"Freeze, horse-boy.", I told him.

Something about their looks made me sure that these two new aliens were males.

And they had these blades …

I pointed the weapon at the new aliens. After all, the others didn't have weapons anymore.

"One move and I pull the trigger. I don't know what this gun will do, but I'm willing to bet you won't like it."

I was really getting annoyed now. I had been thinking I had the situation under control, and now these two showed up ang everything changed.

Still I was determined to look as self-confident as possible.

The captain behind me said something, but of course I didn't understand a word. When I looked back at him he winked at the blue alien.

So, were they on the same side, too?

The others gave me a different impression: They didn't answer or react to him. In fact, they looked as if they didn't know what to do as well.

And then.. then blue alien in front looked straight at me and said (Um … whoever you are … whatever you are, don't fire that weapon. Put it down.)

Finally I understood someone. But put the weapon down? No way.

"Yeah, right." I answered. It was only then that I noticed something odd.

"Hey. Hey, wait a minute! I can hear you in my head, but you're not really talking."

That was strange. At least it explained how they could communicate without a mouth.

(I am in charge here,) he told me. (Drop the weapon!)

"No!" I wasn't going to be kidnapped by another alien race. There was no way I'd give in. "Uh-uh. Nope. I don't think so, horse-boy. I'm tired of being kidnapped and dragged off by giant cockroaches and little green men from Mars."

Now the other blue alien started talking, too.

(Excuse me, but we are here to rescue you) he told me.

(Exactly) the first one added. He spoke like I was a little child.

(What these Skrit Na have done to you is wrong. That's why we captured this ship.)

Before I could even react to this, the other one cut in again. (What little green men? They aren't green. The Na are grey.)

Man, as if I hadn't seen this myself. Did he have to take everything literally?

But that wasn't the point here. I narrowed my eyes and focused on the first alien.

"I'd already captured this ship before you two came along. Me and the other guy."

Well, I had to give him some credit. Without him I'd probably still be in the storage room.

"And we're both just kids, which shows you that these Martian jerks aren't all that tough. He's in the back, knocked out. The other guy, I mean. But I grabbed this gun away from Twinkie here"

The two newcomers looked at each other, then the first one addressed me again. (Well, we don't mean you any harm. How about this idea? You can keep the Dracon beam, just don't point it at anyone.)

Dracon beam? I looked down at the weapon. Strange name.

"It's called a Dracon beam, huh? What does it do?"

The second one answered right away: (It fires an energy beam which causes an exceedingly painful death. Which is why we'd really prefer it if you didn't fire it.)

„Oh. A phaser. Like on that old _Star Trek _show. I can't believe they took it off the air. Now it's just repeats."

What was I doing? Talking about _Star Trek_? They probably didn't even know what this is!

Exactly: They looked at each other and shook their heads.

Then the second one stepped forward and went over to the controls – at least I thought that's what these things were. The other one started talking to me again.

(If you come with us, we'll treat you well. And we'll return you to your home planet.)

"Earth?"

Return home? Back to my mom? That sounded pretty good.

(Is that the name of the third planet in this system?)

"Yeah."

Well, I hadn't been able to see if we were still in the right system, but I hoped so. And the third planet was definitely Earth.

(And you are an Earther?)

I almost laughed. These guys really didn't know anything about earth.

"Human. That's what we are: humans. Me and the other guy."

(And we are Andalites. My name is Elfangor. This is Arbron.) He pointed at the guy on the controls.

I looked the two Andalites – it was good to be able to finally call them by name – over again.

"You look like centaurs, only with scorpion tails. And the extra eyeballs up on top of your head ..."

They seemed to be alright. They had promised to take us home and had told me their names. Maybe I could trust them. Probably. I turned the weapon – the Dracon beam – round and held it out for Elfangor.

(Thank you) he told me and reached out to take it.

His fingers brushed mine and somehow this finally made me realize how unbelievable all of this was.

"My name is Loren. This is all kind of amazing. Most humans don't even believe in aliens. But, well, here you are. Real and everything. Unless I'm dreaming."

I still couldn't fully believe that this was real. Maybe I'd just wake up in my bed at home.

(Do humans dream?) Elfangor asked me. He sounded surprised. Did he really believe that some races didn't dream?

"I do", I answered him. "Every night"

There was something in his eyes and somehow I knew he was smiling. (So do I. But I suppose we have very different dreams.)

Now I had to smile, too. It was possible that our dreams were as different as our lives. But I had the strange feeling that there were things we had in common.

"Maybe", I told him. "Maybe not."

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**Please review and tell me what you think.**


	4. Trip to the dome ship

**I finally managed to finish the third chapter of Loren's story. I hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs.  
**

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**Chapter 3 – Trip to the dome ship**

A little while later, Arbron finished his work on the controls and he and Elfangor showed me the way to the their ship, their (fighter) as they called it.

"A fighter? So it's a military ship?", I asked them.

(Well, yes), Elfangor answered. (It is, in fact, an older model, designed for two persons, one at the helm and one at the weapons. But we won't stay in it for long. As soon as we get your fellow human, we will return to the dome ship.)

Before I had a chance to ask what a (dome ship) was, we reached the fighter.

Even without any knowledge about aliens I was able to tell the difference between the Skrit Na ship and the Andalite fighter.

While the first one had low ceilings and dark colors, the fighter was wide wide and had a light blue color. Of course there were no seats in this ship since the Andalites couldn't really sit down and most edges were rounded.

(Um … would you mind staying here while we get the other human?), Elfangor asked hesitantly.

"No, not at all", I answered.

I quickly described them the way to the storage room, where I had left the boy, and Elfangor and Arbron went to get him.

I looked around once more.

Of course the fighter wasn't big – after all it was only meant for two persons – but it would be enough to carry the two Andalites, the boy and me over to the so-called (dome ship). In the front the small ship had large windows.

I walked over to them and looked outside.

On the left side I saw a planet. Since it had huge rings around it, I guessed it was Saturn – which meant that we really still in the right solar system.

On the right side I spotted another space ship. This one looked like a giant mushroom. It had a long shaft that was glowing light blue at the lower end – probably the engines were located there – and on top of this sat a large dome. From this distance I couldn't be sure, but it seemed to be transparent.

I heard something in the Skrit Na ship and hurried over.

Elfangor and Arbron were trying to carry the boy, but it was difficult for them because their arms were weaker than the ones of a human.

I hurried out of the fighter and helped them to carry the boy. Together we lay him down in the back of the fighter.

He was unconscious again and still bleeding from the cut on his forehead, even through the blood had slowed down.

The two Andalites appeared to be talking among themselves as they walked over to the controls and started working on them.

Then the door shut, disappeared and we were on our way.

Elfangor and Arbron had stopped working and I stepped forward until I was standing between them and watched amazed as we flew closer to the dome ship.

I could feel Elfangor watching me but I didn't turn to face him. I just couldn't tear my eyes away from the beautiful view: the stars, more than I'd ever seen and so bright, and the ship floating weightless in space.

After a while I heard a "Unh" behind me. The boy finally woke up again.

I turned around and saw that his eyes were still closed. Nevertheless I went to him and knelt down.

"Hey, kid, you OK?", I asked him.

He opened his eyes, looked at me shortly, blinked – and stared over my shoulder, probably at the Andalites.

"What happened?", he asked.

It really seemed as if we started all our conversations in a similar way.

I shrugged. "Now we have a different bunch of aliens. Who would have guessed there are so many people zipping around outer space?"

Well, I certainly hadn't. And now I'd already met three different races. But he still hadn't answered my first question.

"Are you OK?", I asked again. "That big cockroach popped you pretty hard back there."

So hard that he even thought that _I_ was one of the aliens.

(You have nothing to fear.) Elfangor joined the conversation in a friendly tone. (You are safe now.)

The boy touched his forehead and when he drew his hand back, it was full of blood. He looked at it disgusted and then stood up slowly.

Elfangor continued: (I am Elfangor. This is Arbron. We are Andalites. We will return you to your home planet.)

The boy nodded and for a moment I thought he'd accept this and just thank the Andalites, but then...

"Telepathy. You use telepathy to talk."

Hello? Was that all he had to say? Elfangor had just promised him to bring him home, and he didn't even introduce himself?

_Stay calm, _I told myself. _He has been knocked out for some time now, maybe he's still confused._

Now the boy looked Elfangor over and then asked: "That tail is a weapon, isn't it? Is it poisonous or does it just cut?"

Alright, I really tried to accept that this behavior was just a result of being knocked out, but what was this boy thinking? We were the first humans these aliens met and he treated them like a science project? That was surely not the way to leave a good impression.

Seemingly Elfangor thought the same thing.

(I politely told you my name, human) he said, his voice cold as ice. (Now I require your name.)

The boy looked angrily at Elfangor and answered in an arrogant tone: "My name is Hedrick, actually. But I prefer my last name. Most people call me by my last name: Chapman."

I think these Andalites are OK", I told him, trying to calm the situation down. "At least they're better-looking than the last bunch. And they've promised to -"

"Shut up!", Chapman interrupted me rudely. "I'm not interested in the opinion of a kid."

That made it final. I really, really didn't like Chapman at all.

"Kid? Hey, you big jerk, who was it that got the weapon after the ship stopped moving? _Me_."

So he hadn't been there and didn't know of it, but I didn't care. I was just furious.

"And who was it that was cringing in the back, begging for mercy? _You._ And anyway I'd be surprised if you're even a year older than me."

Chapman blushed. He glared at me and shouted back: "And now it seems your heroics were pointless. We're prisoners again. And I have a feeling we won't be grabbing guns away from these Andalites."

Without even a warning he jumped forward toward Elfangor and tried to take the Dracon beam, that Elfangor was holding. Elfangor must have thought Chapman was attacking and before I even realized what was happening his tail blade was pressed against Chapman's throat.

It was so fast I hadn't even seen it moving!

But Chapman just laughed: "See that? See how fast he was? Couldn't even see that tail move."

Of course, I had noticed this. And to be honest: It _was_ shocking.

Chapman looked at Elfangor insolently. "What did you say your species was called?", he asked him rudely. "Andalites? Well, I have a feeling you guys are a little more dangerous that you pretend to be, despite all your polite talk and promises."

I know I've already said this, but: I really didn't like Chapman. Didn't he see that somebody could be a nice person and a fighter at the same time? So maybe Elfangor and Arbron were in the military – but that didn't mean that they didn't want to help us.

It was quiet in the fighter now.

Elfangor looked embarrassed because of his reaction. I wanted so badly to say something, anything to make him feel better. I wanted to tell him that there was nothing to worry about, but I wasn't able to find the right words.

After a while Arbron finally broke the silence. (We need to prepare to dock with the dome ship), he told Elfangor, and they both went back to the controls.

I simply watched them working and through the window I saw how the small fighter flew inside the dome ship.

I tried to concentrate on this, because the last this I wanted to think about was the annoying boy behind me and the fact that I would still have to spend some time with him.

Because I knew one thing for sure:

That wasn't going to be fun.

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**What do you think? Please review!**


	5. Tiny quarters and huge parks

**I'm very sorry for taking so long to update. I had a lot of school work to do. But now I finally manged to write again. I hope you like enjoy the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs.  
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**Tiny quarters and huge parks  
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(And these are our private quarters) Elfangor explained.

Almost immediately after we had reached the dome ship, he and Arbron had been informed that their superiors didn't have time for them right away. Since I was watching them – I was still trying to forget about Chapman who stood beside me – I had notice the look Elfangor and Arbron had shared with each other. This look clearly told me they had no clue what to do now and so I suggested that they could show us around the dome ship. After a little discussion, they agreed.

Right now Elfangor had opened the doors to two tiny rooms that were side by side to each other.

Inside there was barely enough space for one Andalite to stand and in both rooms were holograms of Andalites.

Even through I didn't know much about Andalites – or aliens in general – I thought they looked older than Elfangor and Arbron and so I guessed that these were their parents.

In one of the rooms also was some kind of flower.

Even trough I didn't want to be rude, I just couldn't stop myself: "What kind of flower is this?" I asked. I had always liked the nature, I loved learning more about it and this was after all a once in a lifetime possibility.

Elfangor answered with a smile in his eyes and voice: (It is a wish flower, a symbol for the little brother I'll be getting.)

Now I smiled as well. A flower representing that a new life is on the way! I really admired this idea.

But there was still one thing that bothered me about the rooms: "Why are your quarters so tiny? I mean you don't even have enough room to turn around in there..."

(It's because we're only Ariths) Arbron explained. (Of course the warriors,princes, war-princes and the captain have larger quarters.)

This statement confused me a bit. "What are Ariths or war-princes?" I asked.

(These are ranks in our military) Elfangor answered at once. (We are Ariths – cadets – which is the lowest rank. The next one is the rank of a warrior, followed by prince and war-prince. The captain has the highest rank on a ship.)

Well, that explained a lot, not only the small quarters, but also why the two "Ariths" seemed to be so young. I honestly didn't think that they were much older than me. And it explained why their superiors let them wait for so long. I nodded.

(Um … would you like to see the dome now?) Arbron suggested.

The dome! The huge transparent top of the ship. I had already been wondering what exactly it was used for.

"Of course", I agreed. "What is up there anyway?

(You'll see) Elfangor told me with a huge smile in his eyes. (I'm sure you'll like it.)

"Like it?" Chapman harsh voice came from behind me.

Most of the time he hadn't said a thing, probably being insulted because I hadn't backed him up in the fighter. This way I had almost been able to forget that he was even there. Almost.

"You really think we like it to be taken prisoners by aliens? You might act more friendly than the others, but I bet you don't even -"

"Shut up!", I interrupted him. "Why can't you just stop insulting everyone? What's wrong with you? Is it just that you can't deal with friendly persons? And by the way: I do like it here. I think it's interesting."

I turned to the Andalites. "Sorry I didn't mean to lose my temper like this. Do you still want to show us the dome? I'm really curious by now."

(Of course) Arbron answered. (Come on, it's this way.)

He began to lead us down the left hallway and through the ship until we reached a spot where the floor disappeared. It fell straight down. And the most surprising fact was that the Andalites didn't seem to mind at all: When I looked down I saw some Andalites walking on the "wall" where grass and trees grew.

Elfangor stepped forward. (OK, this part is a little tricky.) he explained. (You just walk naturally along the curving floor. I know it looks like you're walking off the edge of a cliff, but the artificial gravity will move with you.)

To be honest: I was scared. Just walking off the cliff? What if I did something wrong? If the gravity didn't change for me?

I tried to calm down. I'd wanted to see the dome, right?

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and started walking. I got a strange feeling – like missing a step while walking down stairs – and suddenly the ground felt softer.

I opened my eyes again and cried out: "It's huge! It's like a whole park in here! Trees. Grass. Flowers. Wow."

Just as I said before: I love nature. And this was like being on a completely different planet. The nature was unusual, for example it showed strange colors, but still beautiful. And there were streams and lakes. When I looked up, I could see directly into space. I was such a great view: stars shining brightly and planets hanging around.

(You have these kinds of things on your planet?) Elfangor asked curiously. I hadn't even noticed them coming up behind me.

"Well, similar. Our trees are almost always green. And the grass is all green, too. More green than this, I mean, not so much blue. And no red." I described as an answer.

And then Elfangor startled me again. (If you are hungry, please feel free to eat as much as you like) he told me.

"Eat what?" Chapman cut in.

Well, one thing I had to admit about him: Sometimes, but _only_ sometimes, he asked the same question than I had in mind.

Elfangor waved his arm, pointing out the whole park.(We have seventeen species of grass in thirty different flavors) he explained.

"Grass? You eat grass?" I asked, surprised,

Somehow I hadn't thought about an Andalite's diet before, or even about how they ate – seeing that they didn't have mouths. Still, this probably was a rude question, so I wouldn't ask it. Chapman however …

He nodded thoughtfully and started in his "science project" tone again: "That's why you have the dome, isn't it? You graze. Like horses or cows. Only you don't have mouths. So how do you eat?"

This statement confused Arbron. (Wait a minute, you eat with your mouths?) he suddenly cut in.

The thought was undoubtedly as strange to him as thought of eating without a mouth was to humans.

Chapman ignored this and just kept asking: "How else are you going to eat?"

(With your hooves like any sensible creature) Arbron answered at once. Then he started laughing. (Do you mean that on earth humans walk round pressing their mouths to the ground to eat?)

I couldn't help it: Even through I knew that this definitely wasn't the case, I imagined this picture and started to laugh as well.

(OK, even you have to admit _that_ would be funny to see.)

For a moment I was under the impression that Arbron was addressing me, but no – he was looking at Elfangor.

Chapman then took over. He started explaining how humans really ate, but I didn't really listen. After all I already knew how to eat a steak.

Instead I paid attention surroundings. The trees, the flowers, the stream, I even felt a breeze in my face. But mostly I watched the Andalites.

They were running around, some alone, but the majority in groups or pairs. It looked fun.

Without a second thought I interrupted Chapman's descriptions: "Do you mind if I take my shoes off? We've been cooped up in that Skritchy Nose flying saucer. I'd be nice to walk on the grass."

Elfangor seemed to be happy about my question. (Of course I don't mind) he told me smiling.

I sat down and started untying my shoes until -

(What are you doing?) Elfangor screamed suddenly. (Stop that! Stop! Why are you hurting yourself?)

I was totally confused and shocked.

"What? What are you yelling about?" I asked him. Hadn't he just told me he wouldn't mind if I took my shoes off? And – hurting myself? What had I done? I was certain I hadn't …

(You're going to hurt yourself, and I don't think our doctors know how to help humans.)

I couldn't do anything but stare at him. What was he talking about? And then it occurred to me. I burst out laughing. He actually thought my shoes were hooves! He believed I was tried to tear my own body apart!

I was still laughing when I explained the situation to him: "These aren't hooves, Elfangor. They're shoes. See?"

I took the first shoe off without hesitation.

(Noooo!)

(Ahhhh!)

Obviously my explanation hadn't been very good. The Andalites were still under the impression that I was hurting myself.

I removed my sock as well and tried again. "See? This is my foot. We don't have hooves. And we wear shoes over our feet. See? They keep the rocks or whatever from hurting our feet."

Finally the Andalites seemed to get it.

While they were still thinking about my words, I quickly took off the second shoe, stood up and started running.

It felt good. The grass was soft and I was finally able to move my legs again – in the Skrit Na ship hadn't been enough room and I hadn't dared running around the dome ship, afraid to lose the others.

After a while I looked over my shoulder back to them. "Come on!" I called.

After a short break Elfangor started running as well. He caught up with me without any problems – after all he had four legs – and them stayed beside me.

"Feels … good … to stretch … my muscles." I told him. Then I stopped a twirled around.

I was so happy to be here. "I was sure I was going to die on that flying saucer. But here I am.! Amazing."

(I suppose this all seems very strange.) Elfangor stated calmly.

"Oh, yeah. Strange isn't half of it. This is a pink tree. Pink leaves. Incredible."

I kept noticing new things everywhere. Stuff I couldn't even have imagined. But still it was so beautiful and amazing. I couldn't stop looking around.

And of course Elfangor explained everything to me – even through I wasn't able to understand him. (It's called a _therant_ tree. It's in its _creast _phase. Do you see how the grasses become more _gelasic _and less _escalic _as they grow near? That is because -"

He stopped there because I had decided to pull myself up the tree, just like I had done a thousand times in the forest at home.

While Elfangor was staring at me Arbron and Chapman came running – Arbron in front, of course. And Arbron started staring as soon as he arrived. I laughed at their reaction.

(Very strong arms!) Arbron commented the scene. (Can you imagine lifting you whole body up with your arms?)

Elfangor however was confused by something totally different: (That skin is very strange. It's almost as if it's not attached.)

I let myself drop back onto the grass when Chapman started explaining: "It's not skin. It's called clothing. Like the artificial hooves? This is artificial skin. It keeps us warm."

(You're cold?)

"No. But that's why we have clothing. To keep us warm in clod places."

(Why would you be in cold places?) Elfangor asked. Obviously humans were as interesting to him as Andalites were to me. But I still decided to let Chapman explain.

"Parts of earth are very cold. Parts of it are so cold you'd die without many layers of clothing."

(But why do you live in those places?) Elfangor wanted to know.

Chapman started smiling. "We're not going to be kept out of a place just because the weather's bad. We adapt. We grab whatever's available and make the best of it. At least that's my motto: grab what you can."

Well, that was a stupid motto. Whoever taught this to Chapman was an idiot. I was about to point this out when -

(Arith Arbron, report for debriefing! Artith Elfangor, take the aliens to the holding room!)

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**So what are you thinking? Was the chapter worth the waiting? Tell me in a review!**


	6. Reasons for kindness

**I know I said I would update sooner, but school didn't give me enough time. I'm really really sorry.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter anyway.**

**This chapter is dedicated to my brother Luis, as a birthday present.  
**

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**Reasons for kindness**

Right after Arbron had hurried away to his debriefing, Elfangor led Chapman and me back into the ship and to a small room.

At first I thought of the room as totally boring – it was made completely of steel and, of course, there wasn't any furniture in it.

But then I noticed Elfangor's smile. He seemed to concentrate for a moment and suddenly one of the wall became clear. Through this new "window" I was able to see space again.

Of course the amazing view couldn't make up for the lack of furniture or match the beauty of the dome, but it was a huge improvement compared to what the room had looked like before.

I walked into the room and Chapman followed. When I looked back, I realized that Elfangor was still standing by the door.

(Um … do you mind staying on your own for a while? I need to go back to the dome to eat.)

Before I had the time to open my mouth, Chapman spoke up.

"Of course we don't mind staying on our own." His voice was full of sarcasm. "Why don't you just lock the door behind you, so that we don't escape?"

"Oh, just shut up" I told him before I turned to Elfangor. "It's alright. I can't expect you to stop eating just because the two of us showed up. And don't worry about Chapman. I think I can handle him."

Elfangor smiled at me. (OK, I'll be back as soon as possible.) Then he added for Chapman, (And I won't lock the door. Still I wouldn't advice you to leave the room, otherwise you'd probably get lost.)

With this he left the room and the door closed behind him. Right next to the place where the opening had been, a small square shone in a gentle white light. Probably the door would open again if one of us touched it.

I turned away from the former door and looked out of the window, determined to just forget that Chapman was in the same room. I just wanted to enjoy this trip in space and not waste my time arguing with an annoying, stupid, rude -

_Stop! Don't even think about him. Just look out of the window and enjoy the view._

Unfortunately Chapman was determined as well – determined to talk to me.

"... Honestly, I can't see why you're so overly friendly to these Andalites all the time. Theses guys are aliens! They don't even care about us, except for the fact that we're their prisoners. They don't consider us as equals! So why do you act like the 'nice girl'? You should really show some pride and not just accept being pushed around and locked in!"

"You want to know, why I'm friendly?", I yelled back. I couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Well, first of all – they are friendly to us as well. I tend to be nice to people who are nice to me, no matter what they look like.

Secondly, we're the first humans these guys have ever met. Can't you see that they are simply curious? They just want to learn something about humanity and you make us look like total idiots.

And lastly – even if you don't want to accept this – We do need help, or are you telling me that you are able to build your own space ship and fly us back to earth?

Oh, and by the way – Elfangor didn't lock the door, he simply closed it."

For a moment Chapman didn't do anything. He only stared at me. He had probably thought I didn't have any reasons for my behavior. Or maybe the concept of being a nice person had never crossed his mind before. Or he hadn't expected that I'd actually speak up and "show some pride".

"You really think he didn't lock the door? You're such a fool"

And obviously Chapman wasn't able to trust anyone. He was really getting on my nerves with his constant insults and mistrust and rudeness.

Instead of answering I just walked toward the panel on the wall. But even while I was walking I started to worry. What if Chapman was right? What if the door was really locked?

_No_, I told myself. _Elfangor is a honest person. He wouldn't lie._

I touched the panel and the door opened instantly. I couldn't help but smile tauntingly as I turned around to face the surprised boy behind me.

"So the door is locked? I'm an idiot because I believe it isn't? Well, I might be wrong, but it looks pretty open to me, don't you agree? Maybe you are the fool after all."

He was about to answer when we both heard an Andalite walking along the hallway.

I hoped that it would be Elfangor – I'd finally be able to have a decent conversation again – but when I looked outside it turned out to be an Andalite who I didn't recognize.

I was surprised that I was already able to tell the different Andalites apart. This one looked older than Elfangor and his fur was a darker shade of blue. On his right arm he had an old scar, he had probably been injured in battle.

The Andalite walked right up to our room, and told us – not even bothering to enter – that we were to follow him to the ship that would return us to earth.

"Uhm … alright, but Elfangor wanted to come back here soon and I don't want him to worry", I answered.

This wasn't the only reason why I would have liked to stay here a little longer. I really didn't want to be rude, but I also didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to Elfangor. Even through I'd only known him for such a short time, I already saw him as a friend.

The older Andalite just looked at me. (Arith Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul will join you at Docking Bay seven. Now, follow me please.)

He turned around and Chapman and I stayed close behind him as he led the way through the huge ship.

We walked in silence and I realized that Elfangor had been right: If one of us had tried to walk around here alone, he would have been lost.

Finally we stepped through yet another door and arrived at Docking Bay seven.

I noticed two things right away.

Firstly: The whole Docking Bay was only meant for one ship. It there, hovering over the ground and taking most of the space. It was similar to a fighter, but about three times bigger.

Secondly: An older Andalite was already waiting for us. He looked almost as if he was thinking about something else and his fur had a metallic color.

The Andalite who had shown us the way addressed him: (War-prince Alloran, these are the aliens you need to return to their home planet.)

It was kind of strange: According to Elfangor "war-prince" was a high rank. Yet the other Andalite almost sneered when he talked to him.

Alloran turned to look at us, when we were alone. The moment I looked into his eyes I realized that I had seen this look before. When my father returned from war, he had the exact same look in his eyes. I knew instantly that Alloran had had a traumatic experience.

(So, as you probably already know, I'll bring you back to your planet with the help of the two Ariths, who you've already met.), Alloran told us, before he turned his eyes to the second door to this room.

In this exact moment the door opened and Elfangor and Arbron entered the room.

It seemed like I hadn't been right about the ship in this Docking Bay: It wasn't a normal ship, as I had assumed. Elfangor stared at it like it was the most amazing thing he had ever seen.

Alloran noticed this look as well. (I see you like my little toy, arith), he said with a smile in his eyes.

Elfangor didn't hesitate to answer. (It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Like … like a work of art.) His voice was full of admiration.

_Well, I have really missed something_, I told myself. _To me, it just looks like a space ship, and since we're already on one, that's nothing special._

Alloran, however, was really proud of the ship. (I designed her myself. I call her the _Jahar_. It's my wife's name.)

Alright, that was nice. A ship with the name of his wife. Alloran must really love her, and probably he missed her a lot.

Arbron on the other hand was more concentrated on the task at hand: (Prince Alloran, what is our mission?)

It really seemed like Alloran didn't like this mission at all, he sighed but spoke up in a firm voice. (We are to take these two aliens back to their planet, erase their recent memories, and rejoin the _StarSword_ whenever we can.)

(Transport work.) Elfangor summed the whole mission up.

However there was one thing that bothered me a lot. "Excuse me? Erase my memory? No one is erasing my memory."

I couldn't believe it. This would just give Chapman all the more reason to be rude, I really hoped I'd never meet him again on earth . He would tease me with this forever. Wait – he wouldn't remember, so …

Elfangor tried to be friendly. It was probably not even his decision.

(It's necessary. Your civilization is not ready for what you've encountered. If you go back to your Earth, you'll have to have all memory of this erased.)

I looked at Chapman. At least I wouldn't have to remember him, but everything else ... I had seen so amazing things, I didn't want to forget them. Even through I wouldn't even miss the memories …

Alloran then took over. (Let's move, ariths. Load the aliens The captain wants to go to Z-space five minutes from now, and by then we have to be well clear of the Dome ship. Your personal belongings have already been brought from your quarters.)

Together we entered the Jahar.

I was still angry. Erase my memories. This was so stupid. It wasn't like I could tell anyone about it, they'd just think I was crazy. Maybe I could explain this to Elfangor.

But I had to admit that the ship was beautiful inside. The whole floor was covered in grass and in one corner a little waterfall purled. It was almost like a garden in a ship.

Alloran went to the controls and the rest of us just watched him and the space in front of the ship. After we left the Docking Bay, I could see the Dome ship as a silhouette against a very familiar planet.

"Oh my god. That's Saturn!" I gasped without thinking.

Then the engines on the big ship started glowing blue and it began to move faster and faster until it suddenly disappeared in a flash.

Chapman was taken by surprise. "Faster-that-light travel? But it's physically impossible!"

Usually I'm not to much into science, but even I had heard about this, so I didn't say anything.

Arbron, however, explained it right away. (True. But Z-space travel doesn't involve going fast. It involves tunneling through anti-space, what we call Zero-space, and then back into the normal universe a another point.)

To Chapman this explanation wasn't enough. "But I suppose you Andalites keep the secret to yourselves, eh?" He was probably still thinking about the "erasing memories" thing. As was I, to be honest.

Alloran's voice was dark, when he answered. I could tell that this was one of the reasons why he had the eyes of someone who had gone through a trauma.

(Not always. Once we shared it. The result was the Yeerk Empire that threatens all decent species. Be glad you are safe on your simple planet. The galaxy is not a happy place to be anymore.)

For a moment there was only silence. The Yeerk Empire. No one had mentioned it before, but I was sure it was important. And the way Alloran had said the word ... whoever these Yeerks were, he hated them more than anything else.

He turned away from the controls to face us. (Make the aliens comfortable, ariths), he ordered.

(Prince, afterwards may I use your ship's computers? I have a copy of the Skrit Na download and I thought I spotted something strange.) asked Arbron.

For some reason Alloran didn't quite like the idea of the Arith working with a computer.

(An exo-datalogist, eh? The new ideal: warrior, scientist, artist. It's not enough to be a fighter any more, eh? They want a gentler, more balanced, more intellectual sort of warrior nowadays.)

Elfangor and Arbron were a little helpless at this statement. Of course, they had probably been taught this new ideal all the time, and now they had to deal with Alloran who didn't seem to accept it.

(I suppose, so War-prince Alloran,) Arbron answered. (I mean that's what they teach us, anyway.)

Alloran didn't answer at first. He just stared straight ahead, lost in thought. Then he spoke up again.

(The Electorate wants war without slaughter. They want a clean, neat, honourable war. Fools.)

The silence that followed the statement was one of the uneasy kind. Electorate? Fools? That was probably something you shouldn't say.

Arbron was the one to break the silence. Carefully he asked: (Sir ... the computer …?)

Alloran needed a moment to come back to reality.

(What? Oh, yes. The computer. Why not? Use it all you like. We're in for a long, boring ride.)

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**So, what do you think? Was the chapter good? Or bad? Please review!**


	7. Wars and war stories

**Once more, I'm sorry for the long wait. I hope you enjoy this chapter anyways. **

**Oh, and I would like to dedicate this chapter to everyone who has reviewed this story, or added it to their favourites ar story alerts. Honestly, you keep me writing this story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs. And in case you where wondering, I didn't own them in the last chapter. I simply forgot to type a disclaimer there. **

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**Wars and war stories**

As it turned out Alloran had been right. The trip was long, and since there wasn't much to do on a little space ship, it was boring.

For a short time we had been "Z-space traveling" as Elfangor called it. But this proved rather inaccurate since we didn't end up in Earth's orbit, but somewhere between Mars and Earth.

Of course this was already a lot closer than Saturn had been, but we couldn't go very fast for the rest of the trip. Something to do with relativity, if I understood Elfangor right.

So we all had to find a way to pass the time.

Alloran kept mostly to himself.

He worked either at the controls or – more often – retreated to his quarters. Once again this behavior reminded me of my dad after the war. I really wondered what had happened to Alloran in the past. Clearly he had fought many battles, but what exactly happened to him?

Arbron however was totally occupied with his computer. No one knew what exactly he was doing, because he only told us he was (unraveling a mystery.) Whatever that was supposed to mean.

Chapman didn't talk to anyone as well. Not that I wanted to talk to that jerk, so I wasn't bothered by this.

Elfangor and I talked most of the time. It was interesting to be able to talk to someone from a different culture and even planet.

I had decided that I would forgive Elfangor for the "erasing my memory" part.

It wasn't his decision, he just had to follow orders and I couldn't expect him to throw away his future just because of some girl who he barely knew.

So we looked out at Earth while I tried to explain my planet to him.

"The brown-and-green parts are land. The blue is ocean. Water. See that bright white at the bottom? That's ice. It's called Antarctica. It's very cold."

(What sort of ice?) Elfangor asked. (Frozen carbon dioxide? Methane?)

Elfangor asked a lot of questions. It was obvious that he was curious and wanted to learn as much as possible. I thought this was kind of adorable. And so I told him everything I knew.

"Water. Just frozen water." I answered his most recent question.

It had never really occurred to me that ice could be something else than water. But now that I thought about it...

(Ah. Of course. That would make sense. And where do you live?)

"Well, see that continent there? The one on the upper left part of the planet? See where the line between night and day is? Almost right on that line."

Home .. Where my mom was still waiting for me. I had been away for days! She must be crazy worrying about me. If there was just a way to let her know that I was on my way home. I could only hope that she didn't think I had run away. Not after what dad did …

"My mum must be dying from worry. I've been gone for four days already."

Somehow Elfangor seemed to be shocked by my statement. He tried to calm me down right away.

(Yes, but soon you will be home. Then she won't worry any more. Maybe she won't have to die.)

And once again he had totally misunderstood me. It just kept reminding me that he wasn't much older than myself and that somehow this situation was new to him as well. I couldn't help it – even through I still missed my mum, I smiled when I explained it him.

"That's just an expression."

Just then I remembered how my mum used to tell me these exact words, when I was taking her too seriously again. I noticed the tears coming up in my eyes. To distract myself, I asked Elfangor the first question that came to mind.

"Do you have a mother at home? Does she worry about you?"

I could see clearly that he wasn't comfortable with this question. He obviously was homesick but he didn't want to admit it, probably because Alloran was nearby. Maybe he wasn't supposed to be homesick? Some military expectation? I immediately regretted asking, but then, after a moment he answered.

(I suppose she does. My father doesn't through. He was in the military, too, when he was young. Of course, we had peace then. I suppose maybe they worry I'll get hurt or whatever.)

They had peace _then._ So now there was a war. Once again my thoughts went back to my dad. When he had returned from Vietnam., he had been so strange. He never laughed or joked. In fact, he rarely talked. He just sat around staring at the wall and then he started drinking. It's not like he became crazy and started hitting us or anything, but... He must have noticed that we didn't know how to deal with it. So one day...

Without thinking I told Elfangor. "We just had a war. That's … that's what happened to my dad. He was in it. He didn't get killed or anything. But he kind off … I don't know. After he came back I guess he couldn't cope with reality. So he left."

I was totally lost in my thoughts, until Elfangor asked: (You have wars? But you don't have space travel. Who do you fight?"

For the first time in a while Chapman spoke up.

"We fight each other." he explained to Elfangor, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

But, honestly, I could understand Elfangor. Why did we fight each other? Just because someone believed something else, or wanted another political structure, or had another skin color?

And – of course – Chapman couldn't stop himself. He turned around to looked at me, winked and said: "So, Loren, Daddy went nuts, huh? Another whacked-out 'Nam vet? I suppose some guys just can't take it."

I was shock. How could he...? This was so …. I didn't even have the words to describe it. I turned around, ready to yell at this insensitive, rude, unthinking idiot again, when -

(Have you been in a war, human?), Alloran cut in. I was surprised. Alloran hadn't talked much since we first met, and if he had talked then to the ariths, never to Chapman or me.

Chapman seemed to be equally startled. "Me? No. Of course not. That war's over" he answered.

Alloran's voice was cold when he replied to this.

(Then be quiet, fool. Those who have been to war understand. Those who have not have no opinion worth hearing.)

Then Alloran turned to me. His voice changed. Now he sounded friendly and I had the feeling that he understood what I had been talking about.

(Even those who return from war may never really come home.)

Alloran went back to work at the controls again, but Chapman, Elfangor and I were silent.

I guess we were all shocked about Alloran's statement.

_Why does he help me against Chapman? What does he now about this kind of situation?, _I wondered to myself. Well, at least the second question was easy to answer. I had once before noticed the look in Alloran's eyes, that was so similar to the one in my dad's eyes after the war. Alloran knew this kind of situation exactly, because he himself felt this way.

But what kind of war was going on here in space? Had it something to do with this Yeerk empire they had mentioned earlier? Who had started this war, and why? What was it all about?

I didn't want to ask these questions right now, I had the feeling that neither Alloran nor Elfangor wanted to talk about the war right now, so I decided to change the topic.

"Anyway … tell me this. When you erase my memory, I won't remember any of this? Not even you?" I asked Elfangor.

He didn't answer, but his silence told me all I had to know. Still, I couldn't bring myself to be angry at him. Somehow, even through we had only met less than a week ago, I already thought of him as a friend.

"It's OK," I tried to reassure him. "I'm not mad at you. You're taking us home. And you saved us from these Skritchy Noses."

(Skrit Na), Elfangor corrected me at once.

"I know. It was a joke. Maybe not a very funny joke, I suppose."

(Ah. Humor. Yes, Arbron does that sometimes.)

"But not you?" I asked him.

(I suppose I'm not very funny.)

I laughed a little at this. Truth be told, I never like the guys who made a joke out of everything. There were things to make fun about, yes, of course, but not everything. There were serious topics as well, and you shouldn't just treat them as a joke.

"That's OK." I told him. "I like serious guys. I suppose if the memory is going to be erased, it won't hurt if I ask questions. so. How come you don't have mouths?"

_And more important_, I added silently, _how do you eat without them_?

But, as always, Chapman cut in, without having been asked. An of course he used one of his stupid, annoying remarks.

"Loren, how can he answer that question? He doesn't have a mouth. We do. Why do _we_ have mouths? Stupid question. I have a better question."

With this he tried to look Elfangor in his eyes. Well, I said tried, because Chapman obviously couldn't decide which eyes to look at. He ended up turning his look from Elfangor's stalk eyes to his main eyes and back.

I had to keep myself from laughing. Finally, this stupid guy was getting unsure – and it was at something simple like making eyes contact.

"Look, Elfangor, maybe we got of a bad start, you and me. I wasn't in a great mood, you know? But hey, you guys are really missing out at something here. Do you have any idea how much money we could get for this technology on Earth? I mean, you could ask for anything!"

Of course. Money. Because that's the most important thing in the world. I really couldn't believe this guy.

Elfangor started laughing.(What would we do with Earth money?), he asked and I wholeheartedly agreed with him.

Of course, it's not like I don't realize why we need money. Without money, you can buy food, have a house and so on. But it's not the most important thing.

Chapman only shrugged. What would he say next? That we could rule the world? Honestly, that would be too dump, even for him, right?

"OK, forget money. How about power? We could snap our fingers and have all the presidents and prime ministers on earth waiting on us. We could rule."

I almost started laughing. Just what I had thought. Being rich and ruling the world. That was all this guy cared about.

(We're Andalites), replied Elfangor. (Not Yeerks. We aren't interested in ruling other species.)

So the Yeerks were ruling other species? Was this why the war had started? Were the Andalites trying to help?

Chapman, however, didn't ask for more details on this topic. "Ah. Well, that's good, I suppose. Yeah, that's a good thing. But we could bring peace to Earth. No more wars."

Now I was surprised. This was definitely the first good idea this boy had had since I met him. I was just about to tell him, when -

(Ok. That's it. That's it. Elfangor!) Arbron suddenly called out.

He must have somehow found what he had been looking for on the computer. Elfangor walked over to him, and for once Chapman and I did the exact same thing. We were watching the Andalites and listening to their conversation.

They were watching some sort of animation, and … well, I didn't get most of it, but apparently it was something that had been on the Skrit Na's computer. It had been encrypted and, for some reason shouldn't be real.

Suddenly Elfangor called out: (Alloran! Prince Alloran! Sir, you should see this!)

Now Alloran joined them. Together they watched this animation again. Alloran check for more files on this strange recording.

I could only guess, but Arbron must have discovered something very, very important and improbable. The three Andalites looked at the screen in total shock.

"Hey, what's the matter with you guys? You all look like you've seen a ghost." I couldn't resist asking. After all, what they had found must have a great meaning, and I didn't like being left out. Unfortunately my question got them talking at almost the same time, and once more I had a hard time understanding them.

(The Time Matrix! I thought it was only a myth), Arbron started, just when Elfangor cut in.

(The second Skrit Na ship! The Skrit Na dug it up. They have it aboard the second ship, the one that escaped into Zero-space!

Alloran then took over.

(The Time Matrix! Hidden for fifty thousand years, and now dug up by the Skrit Na. The deadliest weapon in all of galactic history … and no one but us to go and get it back.)

Alloran seemed younger. Somehow he enjoyed this new development.

(Elfangor! Arbron! Get back on that Skrit Na computer log, both of you. We need to know where the second ship ran to! _Now_!)

While the two younger Adalites turned back to the computer, Alloran informed Chapman and me.

(I apologize, aliens, but we cannot take you straight back to you planet. There is no time to waste. The existence of the entire galaxy is at stake!)

I understood that there were two things following from this.

First: This Time Matrix was a very important weapon, and since the Andalites were currently in war, we would be in this war soon as well.

And second: I was stuck with Chapman for longer that I had hoped, since we were now traveling through the whole galaxy together.

I didn't know, which one I liked less.

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**So, I guess you already know what comes now, right? I case you forgot:**

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